Always a smile
at Eddie Pappas
Eddie Pappas, a popular Hopyard Road restaurant which its
owner Ed Westmoreland calls
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hangout,â&#x20AC;? just gained
more fame in a Forbes magazine
article that cites its â&#x20AC;&#x153;Apple Storelike values.â&#x20AC;? Although the near-full
page commentary by Forbes business writer Carmine Gallo came
as a surprise, Westmoreland (who
expected a sentence or two of
praise) says he spent some time
with the author when Gallo and
his family stopped by. Gallo has
a book, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Apple Experience,â&#x20AC;?
and he asked for feedback from
readers. Westmoreland read the
book and wrote Gallo about how
he tries to make Eddie Pappas the
restaurant version of the Apple
Store.
Gallo came the 3,000 miles
from New York to see and was
amazed, as he told Forbesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; readers,
about the uniqueness of the Eddie
Pappasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; strictly American cuisine
from regions across the U.S. Even
Westmorelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hiring philosophy
reminded Gallo of a chapter he
wrote in â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Apple Experience,â&#x20AC;?
called â&#x20AC;&#x153;hire for smiles.â&#x20AC;? Westmoreland, like Apple, values magnetic personality over proficiency,
although those of us who dine
there believe he offers both quite
abundantly.
When Westmoreland opened
Eddie Pappas 4-1/2 years ago,
his was the fourth restaurant in
the stand-alone building at 4889
Hopyard Road in the Gateway
Center. But his research for a location to launch his own restaurant
showed that despite the failure
of those earlier eateries, restaurants such as the nearby Chiliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
and Faz were doing quite well.
Besides, a long-time resident of
Pleasanton, he liked the idea of
a five-minute commute from his
home. What he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, nor
did most of us, was that when he
opened for business in February
2008, a major business recession
would follow. Still, his emphasis on American regional cuisine
proved a welcome addition to a
city that has many ethnic food
restaurants. Customers told him
from the start that they liked
the tastes of his homemade salad
dressings, sauces and soups, and
they kept coming back. While
some restaurants have fallen on
hard times in the slow economy,
Eddie Pappas keeps growing with

Westmorelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business so far in
2012 well ahead of a year ago.
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a wonder that Eddie Pappas
isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t another Chinese restaurant.
After receiving his degree in sociology from UC Berkeley in 1988,
with a heavy emphasis on management style, he parlayed the parttime and night-time restaurant jobs
he worked while a student into a
retail partnership with P.F. Changâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.
He opened that restaurantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Walnut
Creek location and then later, as a
market partner, opened up more
P.F. Changâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
restaurants,
including
the one at
Stoneridge
S h o p ping Center. That
brought
him
to
P l e a s a n - Ed Westmoreland
ton where
he quickly
became involved in sports and
community affairs, activities that
continue today.
It was at a marketing meeting in
Arizona where he was discussing
possible other Chinese restaurant
opportunities that the discussion
turned to American food. While
there were plenty of â&#x20AC;&#x153;down-homeâ&#x20AC;?
ham and egg and hamburger places around the country, no one
had put together a restaurant that
served regional food. Most diners
had to travel to different regions
to experience those special tastes.
Westmoreland grabbed the bait
and started looking for his own
place to give regional American
food a try, taking the space being
vacated at the Hopyard restaurant
by Baci Steak and Seafood Restaurant on Jan. 30, 2008, and opening Eddie Pappas that Feb. 25.
Westmoreland, born in San
Francisco and raised in Orinda,
comes from a large family and
heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s keeping pace. His son Jason
graduated from Amador Valley
High School in 2010 and hopes to
transfer from Las Positas College to
UC Davis. Mia, 5, is signed up for
the dual immersion Spanish language program at Valley View Elementary when school starts Aug.
28. Little â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eddieâ&#x20AC;? is 3 and will be
in pre-school. Frankie, who just
turned 1, will stay at home with
his mother Anette. Whether talking about family or to customers,
thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always a happy smile on
Westmorelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face, just as Gallo
wrote in his Forbes article about
Pleasanton and Eddie Pappas. N

About the Cover
Kyle Suchland (far right), a Foothill graduate who is in the Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician program at Las Positas College, hangs out on campus
with (l-r) Jaclyn Strom, Sydney Wagner and Jonathan Lau. The community college offers more than a state-of-the-art campus, say administrators; it offers opportunities for leadership roles plus quality classes and activities to help students
transfer to four-year colleges or pursue careers. Photo by Nicole Doi. Design by
Kristin Herman.
Vol. XIII, Number 31

Showroom and Factory
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BLACKHAWK COUNTRY CLUB
Valley Vista in San Ramon and thirty-one other affordable
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Admission includes: Oakley tee prize, BBQ lunch, fabulous
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and live auction!
Register today or ďŹ nd out more about ABHOW
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